Windmill



Aug. 14, w23. l 11,465,174.

J. M. PORTER WINDMILL y Filed June 8, 1922 2 sheets-sheet 1 l v .il Z7 '9 jg c25 :22 .Z4 /f Z0 6\ 30 f ,M- foi i JW,

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7 ,g5 @www4/to@ si @www KTMQT'QZ Patented ug. 14, 1923.

- JOHN 1yr-PORTER, or wiriiviinsroiv, nomia Casciana winnifiinn Apguctioa ined rune s, 1922. "serial No. 566,809.

To all whom it may. concern:

`Be it known that I, JOHN M. PORTER', a citizen of the United' States residing at llilmington, in the county of hcw Hanover and State. of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful-mproveme'nts in Windmills, of which the following is! aspecilication, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing. v

|Thisinvention relates to an improved windmill and. one object of the invention is to provide the windmill with an improved drive mechanism including. rotatably mounted shafts having geared connection and one ofthemconstituting a drive shaft and carrying an improved type of propeller wheel7 they blades Aof which are relatively few in numbery and'` pitched at suchran angle that it can be Vreadily acted upon by windto cause rotation of the drive shaft. Y

Another object of the invention is to pro*- vide theiwindmill with anjimproved type of head; portion for .the/.,tower, this head portion being rotatablyfmounted in anpimproved manner and having/improved, means for rotatably mounting the propeller.` carrying drive,v shaft andishaft which will be rotated :from this jdriveshaftlanol4 .extend vertically off= the tower through a bearing` sleeve disposed in!` the tower.

Another object of the invention is to `so [construct and mount .thehead ofthe tower that it"A mayl have free rotary movement but at the. same time prevented fromy having wobblngf. and also prevented from having vibraties i Another object of the invention` is to provide` the head with an improved type. of vane for engagement by the wind to keep the propeller properly directed withA respect to ythe wind and toI provide this vane with a. counterbalancing weight for the propeller Inovabljelongitudinally ofthe vane/and lockable in theproper position to prevent the weight of;V the propeller from overbalancing the Weight' of; the i This invention is illustrated in ,the accOIllPanying drawingswherein j f .'igure l isaV view showing .the improved windmlll: Side @lemma Y i Figure -2gis a view show-ing the upper portion ofthe windmill partially in vertical section. and partially fie/elevati@ Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 8-3 of'Fig, 2.

Figure 1 is a view showing the propeller in front elevation. Y

Figure 5 is a sectional View taken along the line` 5-5 of Fig. 1.

This windmill is provided with a tower which will be built the desired height and will be provided with the usual corner standards or bars V1. These corner posts will be suitably braced so that theywill be held in the proper position with their upper ends converging and secured to a platform 2. N ear the lower ends of the corner bars 1, there has been provided cross bars 3 which extend from one side bar to another. A

Ina-in power shaft 4 is rotatably connected with certain of the bars 3 and is provided at its outer end with a pulley 5 so that rotary movement can be transmitted by means of a suitable belt passed about this pulley. Adjacent its other end and within the lower portion of the tower,v the shaft 4f carries a gear disk 6 which meshes with a gear or pinion -7 andthus transmits rotary movenient to thefshaft 8 which carries a pulley 9, so that a belt may be passed about this pulley 94 and rotary movement transmitted `from this shaft 8 as well as yfrom the shaft t. It will thus be"V see-n that when the shaft 45 is rotated, power may be taken directly from the shaft 4l through the medium of the 'pulley 5 and may be indirectly taken from the shaft 4- by means of the pulley 9 carried by the shaft 8. At a suitable point intermediate the height of the tower, there has been provided diagonally disposed strips 10 which serve to support and brace the lowei` end portion of a sleeve 11 which extends upwardly above the platform 2 and serves as la bearingand guiding sleeve for. a shaft 12. This shaft 12 carries at its lower end a bevel tra - upon a track bar 29.

with an upper' longitudinally extending platform portion 17 provided with a smaller opening to receive the upper end portion of the shaft 12. Yoles 18 extend longitudinally of the platform at the sides thereof and these yolres 1S have their upper en'd por: tions connected by a connecting strip or web 19 which is provided with an opening to receive the upper end of the shaft 12. Since the head fits loosely upon` the sleeve 11 and also fits loosely about the shaft 12, it will be readily seen that thi,` head can turn freely when the wind strikes the vane 20. It should be noted liiowever that since the upper end portion of the sleeve 11 lits into the socket orfpassagc in the head 16, and the upper end portion of the shaft rotatably engages the connecting strip 19 of the yokes 18, this head will be prevented from having side play. Eetween the head 16 and the head or platform 17 there has been provided a washer 21. This washer 21 is formed of leather and will prevent vibration and also serve to permit the head 16 to turn freely. The platform 1T is cI-tended forwardly and carries bearings 22 in which the drive shaft 23 is rotatably mounted. This drive shaft 23 has its rear or inner end provided with a pinion 24 which meshes with a bevel gear 25 carried by the shaft 12 and it will be readily seen that when this drive shaft 23 is rotated, rotary movement will be imparted to the vertically disposed shaft 12 and through the medium of the gears 13 and 6 to the shafts t and 8. Upon its outer end portion the drive shaft 23 carries av propeller which is of the four-blade type. This propeller which is indicated in general by the numeral 26 has its blades 27 pitched at an angle as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 so that when the wind is blowing, the wind will act upon the blades very effectively to rotate the propeller and thereby cause rotation of the shaft 23 upon which the propeller is rigidly mounted. rlhis propeller is formed in two sections which are positioned in crossed relation and interloclied at the hub so that the sections brace each other and prevent any tendency toward independent rotation. The weight of the propeller upon the outer end portion of the shaft 23 might have a tendency to cause tilting of the head 16 in this direction and thereby prevent the head from turning freely. ln order to overcome this, there has been provided a counter balancing weight 2S which is slidably mounted This track bar 29 extends longitudinally of the vane and it will be readily seen that by movingthis weight longitudinally of the track bar and then securing it in the desired position by means of the set-screw 30, the weight of the propeller may be connterbalanced and the head permitted to turn freely nnderaction of the wind.

sleeve and the ,head 16 can then be put in place to rest upon the washer and turn about the sleeve. The shaft 12 extended upwardly through the sleeve 11 and when extended upwardly through the head, the gear 25 will be put in place so that it willmesh with the gear or pinion 2e*- carried by the drive shaft. The rear or pinion 13 will be put in place upon the lower end of thes'haft 12 and will mesh with the gear disk or plate G carried bythe shaft Ll. "When the propeller is put in place and secured upon the outer end portion of the shaft 23, the counter balancing weight V2S can then be adn justed to the proper position and the windmill will be ready :for use. As the wind blows it will act upon the Vblades 2T of the propeller to rotate this propeller and the drive shaft. and rotary will be imparted to the shaft 12 and from this shaft 12 to the shafts l: and S. There has thus beenV provided a windmill which will be very Veffective in operation and which is provided with a very eflicienttype of propeller and also provided with a washer to prevent vibration when the windmill is in operation.

I claim: Y Y

1. In a windmill, a tower having a bearing platform at its upper end, a sleeve disposed vertically in said tower and extending through and above lsaid bearing platform, a head upon said platform rotatable about theextended upper end portion of said sleeve, a vertically disposed shaft ro-V tatable in said sleeve and extendedabove the sleeve and through and above said head, yokes extending Vlongitudinally of said head upon opposite sides of the extended upper end portion of said shaft, a bearing elementfor the upper end of said shaft carried by said yolres, a drive shaft rotatably mounted and extending longitudinally of said head, a wind operated propeller upon the outerV end of said drive shaft, and means for transmitting rotary movement from said drive shaft to said vertically disposed shaft.

2. In a windmill, a tower having a bearing platform at its upperend, a sleeve disposed vertically in said tower and extending through and above said bearing platform, a head upon said platform rotatable about the extended upper end portion of said sleeve, a vertically disposedV shaft rotatable in said sleeve and extended above the sleeve and through and above Y said head, a leather washer between said head and bearing Vplatform to provide easy turning and Veliminate vibration, a drive Yshaft rotatably carried by said head, a wind operated propeller carried by said drive shaft, means for transmitting rotary movement from said drive shaft to said vertically disposed shaft,rand wind operated means for keeping said propeller headed into Vthe wind.` Y

3. In a windmill, a tower having a bearing .platform at its .upper end7 a sleeve disposed vertically in said tower and extending through and above said bearing platform, a head upon said platform rotatable about the extended upper end portion of said sleeve,

a vertically' disposed shaft rotatable in'said sleeve and extended above the sleeve and through and above said head, a drive shaft for said driven shaft rotatably carried by said head and having one end portion ex tended beyond said head, a wind operated propeller carried bythe extended end of saidlshaft, a vane extending from the opposite end of said head, a Ytrack bar extending longitudinally of said vane in spaced relation thereto and having its end portions extending to the vane and secured to the same, a weight for counterbalancing said propeller slidably carried by and movable longitudinally upon said hanger, and means for releasably holding said weight in an adjusted position. Y

4. In a windmill, a tower having a bearm CD Y sleeve and extended above the sleeve and through and above said head, a drive shaft for said driven shaft rotatably carried by said head and having one end portion extended beyond said head, and a wind operated propeller carried by the extended end of said shaft and formed in sections positioned in crossed relation and having their hub portion recessed for interlocking relation when the edges with the end faces of onesection flush with the end faces of the other section, said sections having their end portions extending in radiating relation from the hub portions and each end portion being shaped to form a blade having a steep pitch to cause rapid rotation of said drive shaft when the wind is blowing with the A forward and rear side edge faces of the blades extending in the same planes as the forward and rear ends of the hub.

In testimony whereof l hereunto affix my signature.

JOHN M. PORTER. 

